{ LIVING THE POGUE LIFE }

{34}

"Its called abuse," she told him, "Not to mention grievous bodily harm. If I give a statement, I'm sure it could become attempted murder. And it's a criminal offence."

"Are you threatening me, girl?" He stepped even closer.

Brie resisted the urge to step back, instead forcing herself to mimic his actions. His face was quickly turning red again as blood still dripped from his nose.

"You know what?" She said, "Yeah. I am. If you ever hurt JJ again, I'll be going down to the Sheriff's station and putting in a report myself."

"You've got nerve to be threatening me," he spat, "You fucking whore."

She smirked at him, enjoying how worked up he was getting. If she could just make him feel an ounce of the powerlessness and frustration that she felt every time JJ had to go home, then that was a win for her.

"Watch your temper there," she taunted, "I'm sure another assault will go down really well with the police."

His face visibly changed shades, clenching his jaw harder.

"If you're not off my property in-"

"You're going to do what exactly?" She continued, "Let me guess, hit me? Beat me like you do to your own son?"

He chose to stay silent. She could see his anger building. She was seriously pushing her luck now.

"I promise you," Brie said, moving closer, "If you ever hurt him again, I wont hesitate to get the Sheriff herself down here to throw your ass in jail. Maybe I'll mention the drugs too. You know, add a couple more years to your sentence...Have a good day."

She wouldnt allow him to argue with her on that. She turned and left, walking back down along the road towards Figure Eight.

She couldn't belive she had just done that. Confronting JJ's abusive, piece of shit dad was something she never thought she would do, but she was glad she had.

No doubt JJ wouldnt appreciate her interfering again, but she didn't have to tell him and she doubted that his dad was going to say anything about being threatened by a seventeen year old girl.

Brie chose to take another long walk back to the Wreck. After her argument with JJ, the last thing she wanted was to talk to Pope or John B, who got awkward at almost any sense of emotion. She needed her best friend.

The Wreck was completely empty when she walked in, mostly because it was almost close on a Sunday evening. She could tell because it was already beginning to turn to dusk. The kitchen still sounded busy, but there was no one to be seen.

At the sound of the bell above the front door, Kiara came out from the back. Brie gave her a small smile, but Kiara frowned.

"What happened to you?" She asked, softly.

Brie tried to hold back her tears, throat aching painfully.

"I did something stupid," she croaked out, "He hates me, Kie."

"Brie," she soothed, leading her over to a table and sitting her down. "I'm sure he doesn't-"

"He told me to stay out of his life!" She cried, "God, he's never going to speak to me again. I'm so fucking stupid."

"Hey," Kiara said, "He'll come around...Do you want to talk about it?"

Brie sniffed and shook her head. Kiara nodded and patted her back sympathetically.

"I'll get you some water," she told her, getting up to go behind the counter.

She brought back a glass and put it on the table in front of her. Brie tried her best to summon a smile.